Developer Track Record: How to Research a South Florida Condo Developer Before You Sign

The developer is the most important variable in any South Florida pre-construction luxury purchase — more important than the brand, the architect, the amenity list, or the PSF pricing. Every other quality element in the building depends on the developer’s willingness and capacity to build what they have sold. The architect cannot force the developer to use the specified materials. The brand cannot force the developer to meet the delivery timeline. The buyer’s broker cannot force the developer to honor the contracted specification if the developer decides to substitute.

The developer either does what they said, or they don’t. Understanding which before you sign is the most important due diligence task in a pre-construction purchase.

Step 1: Review Completed Projects — PSF at Delivery vs. Projected

Every serious developer has a track record of completed buildings in South Florida. The most revealing metric is the relationship between the PSF the building sold at pre-construction and the PSF at which units traded in the resale market at or shortly after delivery.

What this tells you: A developer whose completed buildings consistently trade at or above pre-construction PSF has delivered a product that satisfied buyers and maintained resale value — the most objective measure of whether the developer delivered what they sold. A developer whose completed buildings trade significantly below pre-construction PSF is a developer whose buyers were disappointed enough that resale pricing reflects it.

How to find this data: Request comparable resale data from your buyer’s broker for the developer’s most recent completed buildings in South Florida. The MLS maintains transaction records; your broker can pull specific sale prices and PSF for units in completed buildings and compare them to the pre-construction asking prices on record.

The active South Florida developer track records

• Related Group (Jorge Pérez): 120,000+ condominium, rental, and commercial units built, rehabilitated, and managed over nearly 45 years — the most extensive South Florida development track record of any active developer. Completed buildings including Solé Mia, Auberge Residences, and One Ocean have demonstrated consistent delivery and strong resale markets. Related’s scale is both its strength (the financial capacity to complete projects) and a question (which Related projects receive the full attention of the company’s senior team vs. which are more routinely managed).
• Terra Group (David Martin): Smaller scale than Related but a track record that includes Grove at Grand Bay (Coconut Grove’s most architecturally significant completed building), Park Grove, and THE WELL Coconut Grove in development. Terra’s positioning is design-quality-focused; their completed buildings have generally traded at premium PSF in resale reflecting genuine design quality delivery.
• Mast Capital (Camilo Miguel Jr.): Cipriani Residences Miami, Banyan Tree WPB, and a growing South Florida portfolio. Mast Capital is younger than Related or Terra in South Florida terms; their track record is meaningful but shorter. The Cipriani and Banyan Tree projects are the most significant tests of the firm’s execution capacity.
• Dezer Development (Gil Dezer): Porsche Design Tower (delivered 2017), Residences by Armani Casa (delivered 2019), and Bentley Residences in development. Porsche Design Tower is the most directly relevant precedent — it delivered the Dezervator concept on time and at specification, and resale PSF at Porsche Design Tower has been strong. The track record for delivering complex amenity concepts (the car elevator) is established.
• iStar / Five Park: Five Park South Beach (delivered 2025) is the primary South Florida precedent. The building delivered on its design and specification commitments; Gabellini Sheppard’s interiors matched the marketed specification; and early resale activity has reflected positive buyer response.

Step 2: Check Florida DBPR Records

The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation maintains public records on all licensed contractors and developers active in Florida. These records include:

• License status: Is the developer’s general contractor licensed and in good standing in Florida?
• Complaint history: Has the DBPR received complaints related to the developer’s previous projects? While DBPR records do not capture all buyer complaints, a pattern of regulatory complaints is a meaningful warning signal.
• License expiration and renewal history: Lapses in contractor licensing can indicate financial or administrative problems.

Access: The Florida DBPR license lookup is available at myfloridalicense.com. Search by contractor name and license number.

Step 3: Court Records — Litigation History

Florida court records are public and searchable. For any significant South Florida developer, search:

• Miami-Dade County Civil Court: myeclerk.miami-dade.gov
• Broward County Circuit Court: browardclerk.org
• Palm Beach County Circuit Court: mypalmbeachclerk.com

What to look for: Construction defect litigation (buyers or HOAs suing the developer for building defects after delivery), contractor disputes (subcontractors suing the developer for non-payment — a leading indicator of financial distress), and buyer contract disputes. Some litigation is normal for any developer of scale; a pattern of construction defect claims across multiple projects is not.

Step 4: The Construction Lender Relationship

The construction lender’s identity and commitment are among the most reliable indicators of a project’s completion probability. Institutional construction lenders (major banks with direct construction lending programs — Bank OZK, JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, Related Capital) conduct their own due diligence before committing funds; their willingness to lend is itself a third-party quality signal.

Questions to ask: Who is the construction lender? What is the loan-to-cost ratio? Has the construction loan closed, or is the project still seeking financing? What is the loan term and what happens if the project requires an extension?

A project that is selling pre-construction contracts but has not yet secured a construction loan is a project that may not build as planned — the financing that makes the developer’s pro forma work at sale may not materialize at the terms the developer projected.

The Active Pipeline — Quick Assessment